Brian Stelfreeze is one of the most celebrated comic book creators to work on Black Panther. Stelfreeze relaunched the ongoing comic book series alongside writer Ta-Nehisi Coates in 2016, and succeeded in achieving widespread critical acclaim. In an exclusive interview with CBR, Stelfreeze explored what shaping the world of Wakanda meant to him.

"I think it’s natural to see yourself through the eyes of superheroes," Stelfreeze told CBR. "It’s cool to aspire to that moral clarity and having the power to exercise it without fear. The classic superheroes give us the ability to celebrate who we wish to be. I see Black Panther as something different."

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Stelfreeze added, "Through the people I’ve talked to in interviews and at conventions all over the world, I’ve learned that Black Panther provided a character through which they could see who they are and in some ways that was more important. It was quite a humbling experience to see that pride and acceptance. Things like that change you as a storyteller and some of that will spill into every other project I take on."

Stelfreeze's choice to include interior artwork by him throughout the series was a rare move for him as an artist. Before working on Black Panther, he focused primarily on cover art. Since the relaunch, Stelfreeze left the title, making room for other artists to join Coates and T'Challa.

In addition to his past work on Black Panther, Stelfreeze previously co-created the BOOM! Studios comic book series Day Men with writers Matt Gagnon and Michael Alan Nelson in 2013, which had been Stelfreeze's first ongoing interior artwork since 2005, with the series concluding in 2016.

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